Software

Ed: Welcome to this week's-ever-so-slightly-delayed-due-to-the-artist-being-on-a-train-for-his-birthday's edition of The Pixel Project: a weekly comic from Diesel Sweeties' Rich Stevens on Apple, technology, and everything in-between. This week: Apple is sure slipping lately... or is it?

Sony has released an update to its Xperia Transfer software suit that it offers free of charge to users of its Xperia branded handsets. The latest update looks to seamlessly ease iPhone users over to the Xperia’s Android platform by helping them transfer their content from their iPhone. The software claims to be able to transfer an iPhone’s contacts, messages, calendar entries, notes, bookmarks, and iTunes music.

Apple has posted a recruitment ad on its own site for a Software Engineering Manager specifically for the Apple TV team. It appears that Apple may be getting ready to move the Apple TV from the hobby stage into a full blown can’t do without living room necessity. According to the ad, Apple is seeking someone to deliver the next generation features for Apple TV.

Apple officially announced the iPad mini at its special media event yesterday and one of the things that stands out on the iPad mini is the thinness of the bezel surrounding the screen. if you compare the new iPad with the iPad mini, you can see in portrait mode that the bezel on the left and right hand side is much slimmer on the iPad mini.

Apple has issued a fix for iOS 3.1.3 App Store download bug. The bug in question removed the 'Download' button altogether when users running the older firmware attempted to acquire apps from the App Store.

Since the App Store is essentially a native wrapper around a web-based interface, Apple is able to update it without having to push out a full version of the whole OS. That can lead to things breaking out of nowhere, but also getting fixed.

Apple has released another update for the Apple TV, this one is numbered 4.4.2. It appears that Apple has been having some strange problems with recent Apple TV updates with widespread reports of devices having to be restored using iTunes after the 4.4 and 4.4.1 updates. If you are already running version 4.4 or 4.4.1, Apple wants you to perform a system reset before updating to this latest version.

We've known for a while now that iPhone 5 won't be coming out this month, as it has for the last four years, but this fall, when iOS 5 is also scheduled to ship. Whether one delayed the other, or factors such as Verizon contracts, component shortages, engineering hours, or some combination of factors we may never know, but now rumors suggest new Macs are similarly on hold, this time waiting on OS X Lion before they ship.

Full review of the Verizon iPhone 4: Apple’s first CDMA phone

The Verizon iPhone is one of the most anticipated smartphones in recent memory, made even more so by the endless rumors and years of waiting those who wanted it had to endure. Now it's here and while the radio has changed it's still pretty much the same iPhone 4 Apple shipped on AT&T back in June 2010. A 7 month old phone on a brand new network is not something iPhone users have had to consider in the past. Is it worth the wait? Is Verizon really a better network? Does CDMA have important shortcomings you need to be aware of? Will the entire thing be rendered moot when Apple announces an iPhone 5 in June?

Figuring out the answers to these questions and more have kept all of us at TiPb extremely busy over the past couple of weeks. So hit the jump and on for our full Verizon iPhone review!

The Verizon iPhone 4 and the AT&T iPhone look almost identical at first glance. There are, however, subtle differences between the two model's hardware and software. The antenna band on the Verizon variant has been redesigned for CDMA and iOS 4.2.6 adds hotspot connectivity for Verizon users. Click through for a quick comparison and photo gallery.